Awesome Marimba

To create this pleasantly hypnotic sequence of sounds, musician Jeremie Carter played 15 different notes on a marimba. He performed each note repeatedly at a rate of 0.2 bpm faster or slower than its neighbor, then edited them side-by-side. He says every time you hear a bell ring, a subdivision has been reached, progressing from quarter notes to various tuplets.

We’ve heard some pretty fantastic performances on the marimba over the years, but these guys from Zimbabwe’s Hillcrest College Marimba Band have got way more flair. Here’s a video of the spirited performance that won them the 2017 Marimba Cup Challenge. Here’s footage from another one of their shows.

Musician Joe Porter is back with another one of his rapid-fire instrumental performances. This time he offers up an all-too-short medley of three cartoon music. The Tom and Jerry theme sounds particularly good on the Slap-o-Phone, which sounds like something the cat and mouse would use in one of their fights.

Randy Newman’s You’ve Got a Friend in Me is one of the most memorable movie songs of all time. We really enjoyed this soothing cover of the Toy Story tune, performed by Korea’s Pulse Percussion on a marimba. Disney fans will also appreciate their marimba covers of He’s a Pirate and A Whole New World.

Musician Joe Porter plays a variety of percussion instruments. Sit back and enjoy as he performs a sampling of video game music on an instrument made from plastic soda bottles, timpani drums, steel pan, and more. He has an earlier video game medley and a collection of commercial jingles that are worth a listen too.

We’ve previously enjoyed the talents of Ted Yoder when he performed a great Tears for Fears cover. As good as his remakes are, his originals are even better. Sit back, crank up your headphones, and enjoy this enveloping track performed on hammered dulcimer, marimba, drums, violin, and bass guitar. From the album Shadowlight.

If there was ever a song that suited itself perfectly to the marimba, we’re going to say it’s this one. Sit back and enjoy this delightful cover version of the Tears for Fears track Everybody Wants to Rule the World, performed by Michael Charles Smith and Giorgia Capobianco.

The musicians of Pulse Percussion perform an energetic marimba cover version of the fast-paced techno track Megalovania from Undertale. We’re impressed that three musicians playing on the same instrument don’t bump into each other.

Musicians Aaron Grooves and Snubby J teamed up for this lively cover version of the track Megalovania from the game Undertale, performing it on a Blue Man Group-inspired PVC pipe marimba, also known as RimbaTubes. We also spotted Snubby and Heather Freed’s great pipe and harp cover of Paint It Black.

Music teacher and arranger Michael Charles Smith knows how to get the most out of the marimba, as is demonstrated by his students Preston Bushnell, Sophia Domreis, Tyler Griffith, and Baden VanHuis cover of The Postal Service’s 2003 classic Such Great Heights.

A warm and soothing cover version of Queen’s rock opera classic arranged and performed by a quartet of talented musicians: Sam Novack, Lakshmi Sawhney, Jordan McElroy, and Michael Charles Smith If you fancy yourself a marimba expert, sheet music is available here.

A charming and thoroughly entertaining cover version of Florence + The Machine’s 2010 hit track Dog Days Are Over, arranged by Michael Charles Smith and performed by the students of his Marimba Lab. Their cover of Portugal. The Man’s Feel It Still is wonderful too.

Musician and tap dancer Aaron DeWayne turns in a fun and lively four-mallet marimba cover of the classic Super Mario Bros. theme song with performance flair to spare. We want this version as a ringtone now.